A cruise for brews, down the Erie Canal

The Genesee Brewing Company’s new fermentation tanks will have gone the distance by the time they’re put in place at the Rochester brewery: With no mule named Sal in sight, they’ll have logged some 225 miles on the Erie Canal.

The first barges carrying three tanks launched from Waterford in Saratoga County, May 19 — a week behind schedule due to high waters. That first set of tanks made it to Lock E27 in Lyons on Sunday night, remaining there for the night as some 1,000 people visited it, and made it to 150 Lee Road in Gates on Tuesday afternoon to be offloaded and transported to the brewery.

A second barge with three more tanks left Lock E30 in Macedon on Tuesday afternoon, to pass through Fairport and remain at Pittsford (Lock E32) for the evening, with plans to head toward Lee Road on Wednesday morning.